


When The Heart . . .

by MDFawn



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-18
Updated: 2012-06-18
Packaged: 2017-11-08 00:11:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/436958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MDFawn/pseuds/MDFawn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Noah was taking questions at your first major win in a film festival he didn't expect that question.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When The Heart . . .

**Author's Note:**

> Do not copy/duplicate this work.

   Noah stood looking out at the people sitting in the theater’s seats seemingly eager, almost excited, to ask  _him_  questions.  Ask the winner of the “Best Documentary - Short” in this his first film festival.  
  
    He was still stunned over that one.  His advisor had convinced him at the last minute to enter his senior project in the International Student Film Festival.  He had finally agreed reluctantly to enter thinking that it would just be one more unnoticed entry.  
  
    When they had come for the awards ceremony today at the Beverly Garland Theater it was merely to get a look at his future competition.  He’d been nearly speechless since they had announced his documentary, “When The Heart Pulls You Out of The Closet” as the winner of the short category.  
  
    His advisor, Lawrence, had pulled him uncomprehendingly out of his seat while the other Oakdale University students, Kara, Dylan and Trey, that worked on the project with him stood smiling and congratulating him.  It was almost an hour later and he still didn’t quite believe it.  
  
    They had watched as the winner of the “Best Documentary - Feature Length” had gone through their Q&A and now they were lined up on the stage for their turn.  
  
    “Where exactly is Oakdale University?”  Was the first question asked by a Bill Gates look-a-like in the middle of the second row.  
  
    All four of the Oakdale students nervously laughed.  “It’s in Illinois.”  Kara, the sound engineering student answered quickly.  
  
    “You’re a long way from home.”  Bill Gates commented with a lopsided grin.  
  
    Several hands went up and Noah was shocked to see that his fellow students were waiting on him to select the next question.  
  
    Noah self-consciously pointed to a brightly smiling girl in the front row.  
  
    “The film was very moving.  As the writer and director I think we all want to know, is it autobiographical or just fiction?”  Brightly Smiling smiled even more brightly up at Noah.  
  
    Noah shifted from foot-to-foot for a brief moment.  He had expected this question . . . eventually.  Just not at his very first film festival.  
  
    “It’s autobiographical.”  He answered with a quiet voice.  
  
    “Oh.” Brightly Smiling wasn’t smiling as brightly anymore and Noah could feel the slow burn of embarrassment on his cheeks as he heard a slight groan pass through the female population of the audience.  
  
    “So the man, the one you loved and made you want to come out of the closet for, Edward, he’s real?”  Asked an athletic looking brunette, Mario Lopez, type.  
  
    Noah took a second to swallow the lump of nerves in his throat.  “I changed his name but yes, ‘Edward’ is real.”  
  
    “Is he still in your life?”  Mario look-a-like asked with a little too much eagerness.  
  
    Noah could hear Kara and Trey’s soft intake of breath next to him on the stage.  They had been at OU with him for the last three years.  They knew all about his real life ‘Edward’ and how the story finally ended.  
  
    “No, we’re not together.”  Noah said quietly.  Mario seemed to grow even more eager at that.  “At the moment.”  Noah amended quickly, squashing Mario’s hopes instantly.  
  
    “Is he waiting for you to come home to him?”  Brightly Smiling was back with a dreamy, romantic look in her eyes.  
  
    Noah looked at Lawrence his eyes pleading for help, but only received an encouraging smile in return.  
  
    “No.”  He answered Brightly Smiling.  “I’m waiting for him.”  
  
    “Oh.”  Brightly Smiling breathed noticing the sad look in Noah’s eyes.  
  
    “How long will you wait?”  The question floated down from somewhere near the back row of the theater.   
  
    His body had instantly tensed as the voice called out the question.  He’d heard that voice in his dreams almost every night since leaving Oakdale.  
  
    Noah, along with every other head, turned and sought out the source of the question.  Noah didn’t need to search.  It seemed that his eyes were immediately drawn to the slumped figure in the last row of the theater.   
  
    Luke had let his hair grow out again and it was tending more toward the darker blond in the spectrum of the many colors he had had over the years.  
  
    Noah could see his fellow students shifting uneasily next to him on stage as they too recognized the owner of the voice.  
  
    Noah watched as Luke slowly unfolded himself from the seat and stood up shoving his hands self-consciously into his front pockets.  
  
    “So?”  He asked shyly.  
  
    Noah snapped out of the paralysis he was in and discovered he had no idea what he had been asked.  
  
    Brightly Smiling helped him out.  
  
    “He asked, ‘how long will you wait?’” She whispered in almost a reverent manner.  
  
    Noah couldn’t bring himself to speak around the huge lump that had taken up residence in his throat.  His heart pounding so hard he thought that clearly everyone could hear it.  
  
    The moderator of the panel looked nervously around at the other students and decided that this Q&A was at an end.   
  
    “Alright, we’d like to thank the team for “When The Heart Pulls You Out of The Closet” for their time and congratulations.”  
  
    There was a general rush of movement.  Although, quite a few members of the audience gazed expectantly at the two, still immobile, men.  
  
    Luke silently stood in the aisle as people hurried past.  He might have been amused by some of the blatant longing looks he was receiving from some of the women and a few men as they passed him by except for the fact that he couldn’t manage to rip his eyes away from Noah still frozen on the stage.  
  
    Kara stopped next to Noah as she followed the others off stage and quickly gripped his forearm and whispered a hesitant, “Good Luck” into his ear.  
  
    She quickly hurried off the stage, up the aisle, and past Luke throwing what she hoped was an encouraging smile his way.  She had known Noah for three years now and she definitely didn’t like the sullen, unhappy man that had came out to LA with her.  
  
    Noah and Luke stood staring at each other for what seemed like an hour before they both started moving at the same time toward one another.  
  
    Noah saw the hesitation, fear, and apprehension in Luke’s hazel eyes that seemed to grab a hold of his heart all those years ago and still hadn’t let up.  
  
    For his part, Luke could see the hurt that was most present in Noah’s blue eyes.   
  
    “Your movie was wonderful.”  He said as they came to a standstill just out of arms reach of each other.  
  
    “I don’t want to talk about my film.”  Noah said almost harshly and with a voice graveled with suppressed emotion.  
  
    Luke swallowed thickly.  The idea of hopping on that plane and finally coming out here seemed a lot easier when he was 3,000 miles away in Oakdale.  Now, standing in front of Noah after almost a year he wondered if it was just too late for them.  
  
    Luke glanced around trying to decide how to go about trying to put back together the pieces of two broken hearts.  He stopped wondering as his gaze locked with Noah’s once again and saw below the pain, below the hurt, the absolute longing and love still there staring back at him.  
  
    “You said that whenever I was ready that I should jump on a plane . . . “  
  
    ”You did.”  Noah whispered hoarsely.  
  
    Luke hesitated.  “And that you’d be waiting.”  
  
    “I am.”  Noah whispered again.   
  
    Luke simply stood staring.  His pulse racing.  He took a hesitant step closing the distance between them.  He slowly reached out and took Noah’s unresisting hand and entwined their fingers and smiled shyly up into Noah’s slightly shocked eyes.  
  
    “I think I’ve figured out a name for the sequel.”  Luke whispered as he held Noah’s stare.  
  
    “Sequel?”  Noah’s brain obviously wasn’t function.  “What?”  
  
    Luke’s shy smile suddenly seemed to stretch and take over his face.  “Every great movie has a sequel and by the questions you were asked, your adoring public want to know the ending of your story.”  
  
    Noah swallowed.  His head was spinning and he barely felt like he was keeping up with everything that was happening.  He’d won at his first film festival.  Luke was here, in LA.  And now Luke was telling him about a name for a sequel.  He wasn’t sure but Noah thought that maybe he was having a brain aneurysm.   
  
    He felt Luke’s fingers giving his a gentle squeeze.  
  
    “What . . . what name did you come up with?”  Noah asked distractedly as his eyes dropped to their entwined fingers.  He’d missed this.  The way you couldn’t tell where he ended and Luke started when they were holding hands, laying together on a sofa watching television, or wrapped up in each other as they made love.     
  
    Luke leaned in closer, his lips brushing Noah’s ear.  “When The Heart Pulled Me Across The Country Back To You.”  
  
    He immediately felt a tightening of Noah’s fingers in his own and felt a sudden tremor seem to go through Noah’s entire body for a second.  A strangled cry was the only warning he got, although later neither would be able to tell whose cry it was.  The next thing Luke knew his and Noah’s lips were entangled just as their fingers had been and once again no one could tell where Noah ended and Luke began.


End file.
